MVA approves city plan to fix slope failure at Sask. Crecent and 16th Street East

The Meewasin Valley Authority (MVA) board has approved a City of Saskatoon plan to repair a slope failure at 16th Street and Saskatchewan Crescent East.

In a presentation to the board on Friday, Angela Schmidt with the city explained that the Golder Associates engineering firm was contracted to study potential fixes for the slumping.

The city decided to go with Golder’s recommended solution, which would see 36 piles driven into the ground along a 70-metre stretch of the affected area. The plan also calls for the installation of a 44-metre long retaining wall with a maximum height of just over 3 metres.

Jeff Jorgenson, the city’s general manager of transportation and utilities, said the project is expected to completely eliminate the slumping issue at the site for the foreseeable future. He said the project is expected to cost about $2.8 million, with five to seven weeks of construction slated to begin sometime in mid-August.

Jorgenson said that the hope was to have the bulk of the work done in the 2016 building season, with some finishing touches like landscaping and some repaving to be completed in 2017.

The project will also see the sections of the Meewasin Trail in the area widened to 4 metres, with landscaping after the construction to include the planting of 2000 native trees and shrubs.